Tithers have been proven to be generally richer than non-tithers. Therefore tithing is usually profitable, even without obeying the festival and third year food tithing laws, or giving offerings on the holy days which produce still more financial blessings, which also remove all the “economic sanctions” placed against you. Read about the detailed, unprecedented, 2013 survey of 4,413 tithers in green in the lower one fourth of this page. Yes, some people never tithe yet become rich and stay rich until death, but they are the minority, not the majority of people. Apparently God has not yet taken enough interest in them to chastise such non tithers with a Malachi style curse in this life. So the majority of non tithers are cursed, and they should be thankful for that because it is a sign that God has taken a good, positive interest in them to try to get them started on the path to righteousness ultimately ending in a fabulously happy, eternal life in His kingdom. Another possible reason why some wealthy non tithers are not cursed is discussed further down on this page.
You may say that you cannot afford complete tithing because your income is too low. If so, you most likely have been living under the weight of not just one, but a variety of financial curses, so don’t say that UNTIL AFTER you have faithfully, over a period of one or more years, tithed completely (first and third year assistance tithes seem to generate the quickest blessings) and given decent offerings on the annual holy days. The third year charity tithe can begin two years after you first start paying the first, regular tithe.Your Creator is a God of miracles and can and should at least eventually increase your income or decrease your expenses so that you will no longer be able to legitimately claim that you cannot afford to tithe completely. The positive financial “feedback” that you should be able to detect from tithing correctly is not only one of the best ways to prove that all the Old Testament tithing laws are still in force, but which also strongly implies that certain other OT laws are still valid, too. Such feedback also provides more evidence that God must definitely exist. Most Orthodox Jews routinely pay the triennial charity tithe not just every third year, but every year, as well as give significant offerings on the annual holy days, and they seem to have the reputation of not being poorer than others, but instead richer than most other people.
“YOU ARE CURSED WITH A CURSE”
if you are a non-tither OR EVEN IF YOU ARE A TITHER BUT FAIL TO GIVE ADEQUATE OFFERINGS on the implied annual holy days, states the prophet Malachi. Malachi 3:8,9: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me …… In tithes AND OFFERINGS. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me ……” (NKJV) Malachi specifically mentions tithing failure with the EQUALLY IMPORTANT failure to give DECENT offerings that can trigger sustained financial problems.
“HE THAT EARNS WAGES EARNS WAGES TO PUT IT INTO A BAG WITH HOLES”
the prophet Haggai admonishes in the first chapter of Haggai, verse 6, NKJV. Haggai’s warning reveals one of the ways that the Lord uses to patiently try to correct those that financially displease Him. In such situations the Lord will not interfere with the initial production or acquisition of income or wealth. By easily manipulating your thoughts, however, He can force you to make bad financial decisions or control events to cause you to become poorer. Most lottery winners, for example, eventually lose most of their winnings.
“WOE UNTO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, …..FOR YOU PAY TITHE OF MINT AND ANISE…..AND HAVE OMITTED…..MERCY AND FAITH: THESE OUGHT YOU TO HAVE DONE, AND NOT TO LEAVE THE OTHER (TITHING) UNDONE”
warns Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 23, verse 23 and in Luke 11, verse 42, (NKJV, parenthesized word added). This is another warning to continue COMPLETE tithing. Jesus reminds us that we need to “copycat” the way the Pharisees tithed, which was according to Old Testament laws. Such complete tithing is reinforced by Matthew 5:20 which commands us to observe the tithing practices of the strict Pharisees.
“HE WHO GIVES TO THE POOR (THE HUNGRY) WILL NOT LACK, BUT HE WHO HIDES HIS EYES WILL HAVE MANY CURSES”
Solomon solemnly states in Proverbs 28:27, (NKJV, parenthesized word added). Observing the third year food or charity tithe law should prevent such curses from coming upon you.
If all financial curses are totally removed, the creative, robust energy of a hard, ambitious worker can produce substantial prosperity even without God’s help. Working hard and smart combined with God’s real financial blessings, though, is the best way to prosper. With God Himself, or one or more of His appointed angels against you though, you don’t have a chance at real prosperity. Curses are curses, and even the least of them can keep setting you back financially, relentlessly.
The number of thoughts that the Lord can have at any one time exceeds the number of grains of sand in all the beaches and deserts of the Earth (Psalm 139:17-18), so He can readily know if you are ignoring any of His financial laws. To implement His chastising curses, OUR CREATOR CAN INSTANTLY, TEMPORARILY INFLUENCE OR POSSESS YOUR MIND SO SUBTLY TO MAKE A BAD FINANCIAL DECISION THAT YOU THINK YOU MADE THE DECISION, AND THAT THE DECISION WAS A GOOD ONE, (Isaiah 45:13, Proverbs 3:6, Exodus 14:4, 16-17, 23, 28.) By “hardening the heart” of the Pharaoh and thousands of his Egyptian soldiers our Creator literally adversely controlled their thoughts for an extended period of time — God controlled their thoughts so well that the soldiers thought it was smart to drive their chariots between two towering walls of water in the Red Sea that could have been as high as one fourth of a mile that were obviously supernaturally supported — a stupid, fatal mistake that most people would normally avoid. Daniel 5:21 and other verses show that God can easily possess and manipulate the minds of people to force them to even think and act like wild animals. Conversely, the Lord can grip your mind without you ever knowing it, and force you to make profitable decisions through what you think is your own determined enthusiasm, when you are financially righteous.
Nations which are or at least were more Christian than others like the European nations, and therefore containing more tithing Christians, have been historically generally far, far wealthier than non-Christian nations such as those in Africa, Asia, and India, etc. Rapidly prospering China now has a growing population of many tens of millions of Christians many of whom tithe. As of 2019, the two richest Americans that ever lived were John D. Rockefeller, Sr. and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Rockefeller was a meticulous tither. His oil wealth ultimately reached about 150 BILLION dollars that had the purchasing power of what a dollar could buy in 2006, which is about 3 times the maximum wealth that Bill Gates ever had (one million is one thousand thousand, one billion is one thousand million, and one trillion is one thousand billion.) I believe that Rockefeller’s wealth ultimately significantly exceeded Bezos’ wealth, who was not a tither, due to a divorce settlement that gave a large chunk of Bezos’ wealth to his ex-wife (which could have been a curse from God for not tithing). The Biblical Solomon was the richest person in the entire history of mankind, worth 2.1 TRILLION dollars according to the purchasing power of 2016 dollars. The Bible does not specifically say that Solomon was a tither, but since he very strongly supported Old Testament law keeping, we should be able to safely assume he himself, too, always faithfully tithed on his massive income. So the two wealthiest people that ever lived were tithers with the possible exception of a few plundering, military tyrants and dictators. For one or more reasons, though, admittedly, a minority of non-tithers are not noticeably affected by these curses, in this pre-millennial age. If 100 % of all non-tithers were scourged with obvious financial curses that were replaced fairly quickly with significant, very noticeable blessings when tithing began, a phenomenon that could be reproduced endlessly in a controlled, laboratory like situation, far more people would probably become Christians in this pre-millennial age. That, however, does not seem to be an immediate goal of our Creator, surprisingly to most people. So every non-tither is not financially cursed, lest more people become converted and saved. Apparently only certain people, the “called,” which mostly appear to be “the weak (those who are not socially prominent) of the world” according to Mark 4:10-12, John 6:44, 65, 2 Timothy 2:25, and 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, who are the “first fruits,” will be in the first resurrection. Therefore the “called” appear to be the ones who receive the curses for not tithing, to teach them the importance of financial righteousness. All Christians will eventually be called, but because of their anomos sins, though, most will probably be in the second resurrection. God of course wants everyone to eventually be saved, and the Bible is written in a way that encourages everyone to seek salvation. Although this special calling of the “weak of the world” is an unpopular and rejected teaching among mainstreamers, that is what the Bible says literally concerning the “called,” believe it or not. God, if He wanted to, obviously could do a much, MUCH BETTER job of saving everyone now to be in the first resurrection if that was His goal. For example, He could temporarily send Jesus back to the earth, restraining the deceiving Satan for a while, to hold a 6 month question and answer session to clear up all religious disputes (while performing many miracles, like resurrecting dead people, to prove that He is Jesus), in advance of the coming millennial reign of Jesus. So, if you are a non-tither and yet are prospering financially but also want to live forever, well, hhmmm, I think I would be a little uneasy, ………… I’m not sure what words to use here. You might think that the Lord doesn’t care enough about you yet to patiently, through curses, teach you financial righteousness. The Lord does chastise those that He loves (Job 5:17, Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:5-11). God also qualifies those who will be given the gift of immortality (Colossians 1:12). Maybe you need to love God more intensely and be willing to obey Him more fully by tithing to see if non-tithing curses start appearing if you later stop tithing (not recommended). Now if you are a non-tither and yet are prospering and satisfied with this life only and are not too concerned about what happens after your physical death, then I guess you can just keep on sleeping well at night. Amazingly, some to many people are not seriously interested in obtaining immortality, which our Creator does want us to seek. I guess those kind of people just don’t respect and love themselves enough yet. Ideally, in my opinion, though, if you are prospering and not giving tithes and offerings but very much want to live forever and want to love, worship, and obey God, then your attitude should be that you don’t care whether you are “called” or not, you just know that you love God and are willing to obey Him and are REALLY determined to live forever in God’s Kingdom. Then I think if you start tithing correctly and giving decent offerings, regardless of the previous absence of financial curses for monetary unrighteousness, the chances are great that you will be called and chosen to be in the first resurrection.
1) THE FIRST, OR REGULAR TITHE,
which literally means one tenth, is a Biblically commanded tax (not a voluntary contribution, not a donation, and not a “love offering”) of 10% of your “increase” or NET income, AFTER ALL FEDERAL AND STATE TAXES have been paid, to be paid to the Lord by sending your money to a Bible obeying church, to be paid before anything else is paid (Proverbs 3:9), SUCH AS RENT, UTILITY BILLS, MORTGAGE PAYMENTS ON YOUR PRIMARY RESIDENCE, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, FOOD, CAR EXPENSES, AND INSURANCE PREMIUMS based on Genesis 28:22, Leviticus 27:30, 32, Nehemiah 13:11, 12, Malachi 3:8-11, Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42, and other verses. Those and similar expenses (expenses that benefit you [your “increase”], not someone else) cannot be deducted from your after tax income to calculate the holy tithe. However, court ordered bankruptcy, restitution, child support, or similar payments that benefit someone else (their “increase,” not your “increase”) can be deducted before figuring the tithe. Homestead property taxes? I have been thinking about that for years and still don’t have a definite answer as to whether they can be deducted from tithable income. Since there is doubt, to be safe I do not deduct property taxes when calculating the tithe. If I am wrong and am over tithing, the excess tithe will probably be considered by the Lord as an offering, which is fine since offerings are essential for shedding all curses and remaining free from them, according to Malachi 3:8. After consistent and faithful tithing you should be pleasantly surprised to see all of your necessary expenses somehow at least eventually being paid or some of them even becoming unnecessary to pay. If your income is low, it may be rough at first, but you should start prospering little by little. People who inherit land or other assets such as homes at any time are not required to tithe on it since no mention of such tithing is recorded in the Old Testament regarding the Year of Jubilee when land is returned to the original owners or heirs.
Also, to ward off any approaching curse for failing to tithe, you need to keep in mind the general message in the following verse by paying your tithes and offerings as soon as possible. Proverbs 3:9: “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the FIRST and best part of all your income.” (God’s Word Translation) This last verse reinforces the need to pay tithes before anything else is paid. Over the years I have noticed that delaying tithing by weeks or sometimes even days things seem to start going against me financially until I paid the tithe. Tithes, which the Bible says are holy and do not belong to you, are used to pay for the living expenses of the human representatives of the Lord, ministers, who teach others about eternal salvation. Tithes are also used to pay for other expenses such as the cost of producing and distributing educational literature, maintenance of church buildings, missionary work, and so on. In the past, tithes were paid to Israeli preachers, called Levites. The specific Mosaic law limiting the priesthood to only the Levites has now been annulled. Jesus Christ is our new Priest. Tithes are now paid to Christian ministers who represent Jesus. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14: “Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” People claiming incorrectly that tithing is only for agricultural and ranching profits seem to not know about 1) Jacob’s vow in Genesis 28:22 to tithe on his profits from all sources, which we can reasonably assume still applies to us and all future Christians, and 2) 2 Chronicles 31:5 which mentions not only the tithe of the produce of the field, but in addition mentions specifically the tithe of “EVERYTHING,” which logically would include the tithe of literally any kind of profit. Verse 5 settles once and for all the issue of what one should tithe on concerning “earned” profits or income.
2) AN ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL TITHE,
which you could call the “vacation tithe to go worship the Lord,” the aesthetic seven day Feast of Tabernacles tithe created primarily for your very own personal dining pleasure does exist according to Deuteronomy 12:17,18, and 14:22-26. This law not only guarantees but demands that you will have a really good care free, eat, drink, and be merry type of time for at least a week each year, which is also a special week of daily worship and an advance celebration of the approaching Christian millennium. You do not send this tithe to anyone else. You keep it in your own bank, under your pillow, or some other safe place. It may not be invested unless its safety is guaranteed. You control when and how this entire tithe is spent. It can be used to pay for hotel, motel, condominium, or house accommodations at the feast, restaurant meals, feast activities, lots of tasty food purchased before arriving at the feast, and related feast expenses. Excess festival tithe money you don’t need for you and your family can be given as an offering on the two high holy days at the feast. People with average incomes sometimes think nothing of spending 5 percent of their annual income to go on a nice vacation trip, so what’s so terribly burdensome about spending 10 percent for a special yearly vacation to go worship the Lord at a church appointed location, and, according to the Bible, even be blessed financially for it later on during the year? Members of righteous churches regularly hear about this festival tithe in sermons. Based on my own personal experience the feast tithe also seems to have its own set of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, but they appear to be less intense and more temporary or seasonal than those of the other two kinds of tithes. Perhaps curses seem to be milder for ignoring the festival tithe because you are stealing primarily from yourself instead of from God or others (the hungry). Assuming you really are “called” by the Lord, which in turn involves chastisement for sinning, after you start faithfully saving the 10% festival tithe from each paycheck or profitable business transaction or withdrawal then 100% of your mind or self control will be returned to you, if you were previously cursed financially, to resume making rational, profitable business decisions again, based mostly on my personal experience day trading foreign currencies for years, and to a lesser extent intuitive speculation. The respected SEPTUAGINT (septuaginta means 70 in Latin) is the oldest of several ancient translations of the Old Testament’s original Hebrew, especially the first 5 books, into Greek, translated several hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Those accurate translators, seventy of them, were Jewish scholars very proficient in the use of Hebrew, not often anti-Old Testament leaning Protestant scholars. Translated into English, Deuteronomy 12:17 in the SEPTUAGINT, which explains a little more clearly the festival tithe, reads as follows: “Thou shalt not eat in thy cities the ADDITIONAL TITHE of thy corn, of thy wine, or of thy oil …….. but before the Lord thy God thou shalt eat it, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.” For further study please go to cog ff.com/site/cog_archives/booklets/what_you_should_know_about_tithing and read the lower half, a 1959 article about the 3 tithes by Dr. Herman Hoeh, the church historian selected by the founder of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert Armstrong. Righteous churches such as the United Church of God, an International Association, and the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, annually produce brochures listing hundreds of hotels/motels offering church negotiated, reduced rates to church members to observe the seven day Feast of Tabernacles at many dozens of feast sites. This feast is more fun than Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, Easter, and New Year’s Day combined. According to sermons I have heard over the years part or even all of the festival tithe may be spent for such things as essential car repairs while travelling to feast sites in emergency situations when no other money is available. In such rare situations church assistance funds at the feast are usually available to help you enjoy the rest of this important, special feast.
3) A THIRD, “FOOD, ASSISTANCE, OR CHARITY” TITHE,
very much still in force for everyone, which you could also call the tithe for the hungry, exists according to Deuteronomy 14:28,29 and 26:12: “At the end of every THIRD YEAR you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29 And the Levite …….. and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow …….. may come and EAT AND BE SATISFIED, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” 26:12: “When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the THIRD YEAR—the year of tithing—and have given it (“it” in the highly respected, accurate SEPTUAGINT translates into “SECOND ADDITIONAL TITHE” further confirming the existence of a third type of tithe. There is the tithe [regular or first tithe], the “ADDITIONAL TITHE” [festival tithe], and the “SECOND ADDITIONAL TITHE” [third year food or charity tithe] in the SEPTUAGINT) to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may EAT within your gates and be filled.” In his book Antiquities of the Jews, Book 4, Chapter 8, Section 8, Flavius Josephus says “Besides those two tithes, which I have already said you are to pay every year, the one for the Levites, the other for the festivals, you are to bring every third year a tithe to be distributed to those that want; to women also that are widows, and to children that are orphans ………” The English translation of Deuteronomy 26:12 in the SEPTUAGINT is as follows: “When thou has completed tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, thou shalt bring the SECOND ADDITIONAL TITHE to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat in thy gates and be merry.” The original Greek for “second additional” is deuteron-epidekaton which literally means the “second additional” tithe. Since the SEPTUAGINT calls the second or festival tithe the “additional” tithe then the “second additional” tithe must refer to a third type of tithe. This tithe is obviously separate from and is not the same as the regular or first tithe because it is meant to strictly be used to feed people that have not been able to feed themselves. No other purpose is allowed for this tithe which is collected only every third year, not every year like the regular tithe, not even to pay for expenses associated with proclaiming the gospel or for nonfood living expenses of ministers. For further prosperity, and to remove many additional pre-existing curses, the third year food tithe law must be faithfully obeyed.
The third year food tithe for the hungry is an additional 10% tithe separate from the regular or first tithe. It lasts for only one year out of every 3 years. After you have completed two consecutive years of paying the first tithe, you need to begin the third year by paying the additional charity or food tithe. During the fourth and fifth years you are not required to pay this food tithe. At the start of the sixth year you would begin paying the charity tithe again, and so on, assuming you are not a farmer. The schedule is slightly different for farmers since the seventh year land rest law is involved, so contact a Bible believing minister about when to pay the charity tithe if you are a farmer. This triennial food tithe is given mostly to other people that, without the assistance of this tithe, might otherwise starve to death because of circumstances beyond their control.
4) HOLY DAY OFFERINGS
The total, ANNUAL EXPENSE OF ALL MANDATORY OFFERINGS given on all of the annual holy days SHOULD RANGE FROM 50% (FIFTY PER CENT) OR MORE of the total, ANNUAL EXPENSE OF YOUR FIRST, REGULAR TITHE for MAXIMUM PROSPERITY, based on my 49+ years of “trial and error” experience of giving on the holy days. If you think that seems excessive, especially if you are married and have a low income, then you most likely simply have never tried it. If your income is below average you probably will need to cleverly figure out how to best save part of your income for the offerings to be given on the approaching holy days. When offerings are given during the Feast of Tabernacles you can use part of your saved festival tithe to pay those offerings. I gave just what I thought were minimal offerings (10 to 20 dollars usually each time) for most of those years when offerings were taken up on the holy days, but opportunities for real prosperity never started to come until I substantially increased the offering amount. Malachi 3: 8,9: “…… you have ROBBED Me! …… in tithes AND OFFERINGS. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me.” The word “offerings” in verse 8 IMPLIES a monetary amount equaling or at least well approaching the 10% amount of tithes since the two different types of giving are mentioned so closely together. If your yearly offerings total only 1 or 2% or less of your annual income, that would be a relatively insignificant amount compared to the 10% tithe amount. Offerings totaling 5% of your yearly income, though, better approach the 10% tithe amount. If 7 annual holy days require an offering on each of them in the church you attend, then divide the annual amount of your first tithe by 2. Then divide that quotient by 7 for the amount you give on each of the 7 offering days to give an amount that per year will be one half or 50 per cent of your annual tithe. Give more if you can, but generally, also, do not borrow money for an offering. The true worship of our Creator is similar to being married to Him in which you entrust a substantial part of your income to Him, just as you entrust or devote a substantial part to your earthly mate. Remember, though, He keeps your income growing, supernaturally, which is something your wife or husband cannot do.
Let us say that your annual income is $30,000 and that you pay $3,000 per year as the first tithe. Divide $3,000 by 2 to get $1,500 as an amount that is decently significant in relation to the first tithe. If your church requires an offering on the first and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (2), on Pentecost (1), on the day of Trumpets (1), on Atonement (1), on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (1), and on the Last Great Day (1), then divide $1,500 further by 7 to get about $214 which needs to be given on each holy day. If you give offerings of only $10 or $20, that really is basically nothing since that is just “pocket change” you normally keep readily available to pay for car gasoline, snacks, postage stamps, tips, etc. After you start paying at least $214 for an offering during each of the very important, usually prophetic holy days, then the Lord will or should, according to my personal experience, lift the “economic sanctions” previously placed on you for stealing His offerings. Subtle mind gripping financial curses will no longer plague you, and you can pursue the accumulation of wealth without interference from your Creator. In fact, the Lord will probably occasionally, briefly control and directly, forcibly manipulate some of your thoughts to make profitable financial decisions. If you fail to give a decent offering on any holy day, you may not be able to extricate yourself from a tangled web of mind controlling financial curses for an ENTIRE YEAR until that same holy day arrives again when you will be given the opportunity to give a reasonable offering.
Jesus’ reminder to pay tithes in Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42 logically refers to all three of these separate tithes because the scribes and Pharisees mentioned in the above verses, who strictly obeyed all the Mosaic laws, also ROUTINELY paid these tithes, the third year food tithe for the hungry, the festival tithe, as well as the regular tithe. Jesus did not single out a specific kind of tithe, and He did not distinguish between the different kinds of tithes contained within the Mosaic laws, so He must have been referring to all 3 tithes in the above verses. To be fully righteous we need to pay all 3 tithes, too.
Giving a regular tithe, saving the festival tithe, plus every third year giving the charity tithe which would total 30%, may seem impossible if you have never tried it. After you actually start doing it, though, you should begin to realize that it can be done when you prioritize expenses. Remember, when you’re dealing with God, you’re dealing with “magic” and miracles. After or during the special third year charity tithe you should be able to detect one or more financial blessings. The best time to begin paying the food or charity tithe is in the very beginning of the new year which Biblically begins about the time of the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring during April. Visit a righteous church’s website to view a Biblical calendar to determine what day the new year begins. More than a dozen proverbs in the book of Proverbs mention that those who give to the needy will prosper and be blessed. Proverbs 28:27 says “He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have MANY curses.” The word “many” means significantly more than one, and these curses can occur consecutively. How many times have you heard others say “It’s always something,” referring to a recent expense that just wiped out their most recent savings? Such non-tithers probably have been on the receiving end of real curses for ignoring divine financial laws. The original Hebrew word for the understated “many” in the above verse is “rab 7227.” Some of the definitions of rab include “great, plenteous, mighty, exceedingly, full, and powerful.” The Jews have faithfully obeyed this triennial food tithe more than any other well known group of people, and they often have the reputation of being rich, which is more evidence that this tithe works. Partly because of their above average prosperity, a certain dictator during the 1940s had millions of Jews gassed to death, mistakenly believing that they were in a worldwide conspiracy to cheat, steal, or use other means to unfairly exploit other people. He did not understand, apparently, that the real source of their wealth was God’s blessings for obeying the Mosaic financial laws.
Regarding the controversial issue of whether or not governmental Social Security tax deductions from paychecks in the United States satisfy the third year 10% charity tithe requirement, there is extreme, terrible danger in not obeying the exact, precise words of God. 1 Kings:1-4,7-9,11-25 poignantly illustrates the great danger of not doing exactly what the Lord has told us to do. God told an unnamed “man of God” in Judah to go to Bethel to warn against continuing pagan sacrifices on the altar in Bethel. God also commanded him to not drink or eat anything during the trip to Bethel until apparently AFTER he returned to Judah. However, another prophet persuaded him using an extremely persuasive lie to come to his house to eat a meal and drink something. After eating he began the journey back to Judah and soon encountered a lion, which violently killed him probably involving great pain and tremendous emotional distress. Since the man of God disobeyed the Lord by eating and/or drinking during the journey back to Judah the lion, supernaturally manipulated by the Lord, killed him, having been “torn” by the lion. So I personally like to give a full 10% tithe to charity through my trustworthy church assistance fund which gives 100% of such donations to those in need, in addition to any Social Security taxes paid. Then I don’t have to worry about whether or not average Social Security income recipients, who usually have access to fairly adequate food stamp programs and often have pensions, jobs, investment income, or help from relatives and friends, truly represent the Biblical poor, those in danger of actual starvation. Remember, the sometimes money wasting U. S. Social Security system continues giving retirement payments to people 65 years or older who even have multimillion dollar incomes! The situation is much different for European wage earners, though, since their tax rate is much higher, and a higher percentage of their tax dollars is used to feed the hungry. The church assistance fund assists those who do not qualify for government welfare programs or receive insufficient governmental help.
Getting back to the first tithe, one of many studies done on tithing is research reported in the Houston Chronicle newspaper in the 1980?s showing that from a large survey of businesses, the businesses that contributed 10% or more of their income to their chosen churches had significantly higher incomes and net worths than those businesses that did not practice tithing. A much more recent 27 page study, described as “unprecedented,” by Brian Kluth, founder of the study and Maximum Generosity, released in May, 2013, of 4,413 tithers showed that they were significantly more prosperous than non-tithers, or, as the study concluded, had healthier finances. Research was conducted by Maximum Generosity, Christianity Today, ECFA, and the Evangelical Christian Credit Union. Tithers from all 50 states and from a variety of different churches were surveyed. Nine categories of finances were used to compare the two groups, and in each of the nine most tithers were better off financially. Of the tithers 58% had a net worth of $250,000 or more, and 35% were worth $500,000 or more. About 74% had no car payments, and 48% had no mortgage payments on their homes compared to non-tithers, for example. For a copy of this 27 page study visit http://www.STATEofthePLATE.info/index.htm.
More people in the United States have been tithing than in any other nation in recent history, and the U. S. A. has become the richest or most blessed nation in the world, as Malachi prophesied in verse 3:12. Tithes and offerings should be sent to a church that actually obeys the Bible, but people seem to be blessed for tithing (or charitably donating to Operation Blessing) even to Mr. Pat Robertson’s 700 Club which, as a Christian organization with some incorrect doctrines, is admittedly doing a lot of very good, philanthropic things with most of the money they take in. The 700 Club is shown on television every week, and on almost each program they provide testimonials by different people of how God has blessed them financially for tithing or contributing charitably to the 700 Club or often to a traditional church, which is additional proof that tithing is still in force. The non-tither’s curse is a subtle curse on the majority of people for failing to regularly tithe. This scourge seems to initially be low grade, but the effects are cumulative over the years as some or much of the income of non-tithers keeps falling through the prophet Haggai’s “holes” and is wasted or lost. A sustained curse causes most non-tithers to live from paycheck to paycheck with no substantial reserves and to have instead significant credit card or other debt. When a streak of bad luck reduces the income of even hard workers, this ever present, merciless curse can eventually tip the scales all the way to outright homelessness for some non-tithers. An unrelenting curse causes most non-tithers, after working hard for a lifetime, to have only government social security income or less to live on. Government statistics show that most Americans, who are overwhelmingly non-tithers, after a lifetime of work, wind up basically broke at retirement age, using Social Security benefits as their “life support line” for financial survival.
Tithes should be calculated AFTER all income taxes have been paid, since that is one’s true net increase or profit. Some high income Europeans are forced to pay 80 to 90 % of their income in taxes. If they tithed on their gross income, they would have zero income to live on, which is ridiculous. For an expanded, more complete discussion of tithing please visit gnmagazine.org/booklets/AT/AT.
MATTHEW 23:23: “…….. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest of income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law — justice, mercy, and faith. You SHOULD TITHE, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” — New Living Translation.
“…….. Hypocrites! You give to God a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, but you forget about the more important matters of the law: justice, peace, and faith. You OUGHT TO TITHE but without forgetting about those more important matters.” — Common English Bible.
Genesis 14:20 and 28:22 prove that the law of tithing existed and was in full force many, many hundreds of years before Moses was even born. Therefore any MOSAIC law (newly created by Moses) later abolished never could have included tithing since tithing was always independent of anything Moses codified at Mt. Sinai.
GENESIS 14:14-16,20, 28:20-22: “Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants …… and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 ….. by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them …… 16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot …… 20 …… ‘blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’ And he gave him a TITHE of all. 28:20-22: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 …… then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely give a TENTH to You.”
The Old Covenant was abolished after the death of Jesus Christ, not all the separate and eternally beneficial, humane civil and moral Mosaic laws. Basically only the sacrifice laws, circumcision law, Levitical priesthood, and automatic death penalty for the righteous were also done away with, not all of the other Old Testament laws. Both the Old and New Testaments then become harmonious, and Jesus’ dire warning in Matthew 7:21-23, using the anomia word, about living apart from the Mosaic laws makes sense. The Old Covenant promised only physical blessings for obedience, not the gifts of 1) the Holy Spirit, 2) forgiveness of sins, and 3) immortality which the New Covenant now promises to those that obey divine laws. Therefore the entire Old Testament cannot be described as the now annulled Old Covenant. The OT contains many Mosaic laws still in force, such as tithing.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation-Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
GOD’S WORD is a copyrighted work of God’s Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.